176. Odder

Odder. Katherine Applegate. Illustrated by Charles Santoso. 2022. 288 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: not (exactly) guilty
In their defense,
sharks
do not (as a rule) eat
otters.
True, sharks sometimes
taste them
by mistake, leaving
frowning bites
or the jagged clue
of a tooth or two.
But then,
in fairness,
nobody's perfect.

Premise/plot: Katherine Applegate's newest novel is an animal fantasy novel written in verse. Odder is an otter who has twice been rescued by humans--first as a pup and then a second time three years later. She has spent some time in the wild, but, ultimately her home may not be in the wild. 

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. I know my summary is on the weaker side. It is. I know it. You know it. But this one is SO GOOD. Trust me. Odder's voice is captured perfectly-perfectly. I loved her voice. The poems are so wonderful and compelling. I had all the feels for this one. I was definitely nervous in places--you may be too--but ultimately this is a grin from ear to ear read that is just incredibly satisfying. 

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

71. Flipping Forward Twisting Backward

Flipping Forward Twisting Backward. Alma Fullerton. 2022. [July] 144 pages. [Source: Review copy]

 First sentence: In the gym club
there's always someone
who flies higher
and works harder
than everyone else.
In the gym club
there's always someone
who pushes to be
number one.
In the gym club
there's always someone
who can do
anything.
When I am
in the gym club
that someone
is me.
There's
no better feeling
than being number one
when everywhere else
you're last in line.

Premise/plot: Flipping Forward Twisting Backward by Alma Fullerton may just be my new favorite children's book published in 2022. Claire, our protagonist, excels in gymnastics. She absolutely loves it; she loves her teammates. What she is not loving is school. And not for the reason you may be thinking. (Though to be fair, I don't know what you are thinking.) Claire may be in fifth grade, but, Claire has a secret, a big secret, a secret that is getting heavier and heavier by the day. Claire cannot read. 

Flipping Forward Twisting Backward captures Claire's struggle as she begins to ask for help--beg and plead--for help. 

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved this one. I loved the characters. I love Claire. I love that she has a great supporting cast. She has some great friends and teammates. She has a great big sister. There are a few adults that really do want to help. (Including a principal that is actually super-helpful). But not all the characters are supportive and compassionate. Trigger warning, Claire is the victim of bullying at school. And even her teacher's words and actions can be seen in a biased way. (Though I am not saying the teacher is a bully.) I loved the story. I loved seeing ALL of Claire's life--at home, at school, at the gym. I loved that there was a balance of things going wonderfully right and going horribly wrong. This realistic balance carries over in the characterization as well--very human. No one is all good or all bad. Even the most difficult characters have redeeming qualities on display--now and then. For example, her mother, whom I wanted to yell at or "shake" for a good bit of this novel. I thought the subject of learning disabilities is (and was, and probably ever shall be) relevant. In this case, we're talking dyslexia. I also loved the writing.

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

91. The One Thing You'd Save

The One Thing You'd Save. Linda Sue Park. 2021. [March] 72 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "Imagine that your home is on fire. You're allowed to save one thing. Your family and pets are safe, so don't worry about them. Your Most Important Thing. Any size. A grand piano? fine."

Premise/plot: The One Thing You'd Save is a verse novel that asks and answers the question what ONE THING would you save? It is set in a middle grade classroom--a teacher and her students. Each poem is written from a point of view of either the teacher or one of the students. Everyone gets a chance to participate in this homework assignment. As the conversation progresses, so do points of view.

My thoughts: I may be in the minority. I've been reading through some five star reviews of this one, and the consensus seems to be that it is wonderful, amazing, fantastic, marvelous, has potential for awards come the end of the year, etc.

I didn't dislike it. I appreciated that it required WORK. All the poems are written in sijo, a Korean poetic form of three lines of 13 to 17 syllables...the three lines can be divided into six shorter lines. (This information is found in an author's note.) 

I think there is substance to be found. If readers were to read it carefully through two or three times, each time they'd notice more, appreciate more, see connections that aren't super obvious on a superficial read through. 

But I didn't engage with it personally. I wanted to like it more than I did. I don't know if it was because it was poetry (which I struggle with sometimes) or the multiple points of view (sometimes one narrator resonates more with me) or the subject (I could have been putting up a wall so that I wouldn't have to think about it too closely.)  

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Minn and Jake

Wong, Janet S. 2003. (Paperback 2008). Minn and Jake.

"The story of losing--and finding--a true best friend."

Minn and Jake is a verse novel with tween protagonists. (Minn and Jake are fifth graders.) When the novel opens, Minn is having a rough time. She's feeling "extra lizardy and alone." She feels betrayed, in a way, by her former "true best friend" Sabina. Our first poem tells us,

Minn is feeling very empty,
and very tall,
and very odd,
and very pigtailed,
and very lizardy,
and very much alone.

But Minn soon meets Jake. Though Jake isn't the true best friend she'd been waiting for. Jake is the new kid, the transfer student. He's short and has "a spiky haircut that he never asked for that makes him look like a baby crow." Yet in a relatively short amount of time--a few days or a week--the two begin to discover a thing or two about friendship.

There were many things I enjoyed about this one. Details. It's all in the details. The quirky little things that takes this book from ordinary and quite typical to great fun. It just feels right. Jake and Minn feel like they're real kids, doing real kid things and having real kid problems.

Early on in the book when Minn is over at Jake's house, and Minn is being 'forced' to play with Soup, Jake's baby brother, there is an accident with the fish tank. This bit of a poem is right after the accident.

Jake spent a whole week
coming up with name
that fit the fish--

Plungerface: the yellow one with the big nose
who likes to suck the side of the tank.

Disposal: the garbage fish,
the minute catfish
who eats the old food and scum
at the bottom.

Ick and Uck:
the ones who always seem to have poop
trailing out their backsides.

Angelghost:
the silvery black-and-white angelfish,
so flat and skinny
there's hardly enough room
for real live guts
in her.

Flick: the black one
who likes to flick
her long flowing fins
into the other fishes' faces.

The last seven (six, now),
the little blue ones,
have easy names:
all of them
are called
the $2.99 Blue Kind,
which makes them feel like a team.

As soon as I read that, I *knew* that this was the kind of book I'd love.